Here's
some interesting information
about Earl’s of Witney
(Witney Blankets) found in
the local newspaper
"Witney Report".

____________________________________________________________________

First
published on Friday 15 June
2001:

•
Blanket factory plans to
move by
Witney
staff reporter

Witney's
only remaining blanket factory
has announced it is moving
from its present site to a
smaller factory in the town to
secure its future.

Established
in the 17th century, Early's
of Witney is undertaking a
programme of changes to
modernise the business.

It
plans to sell its seven-acre
site in Burford Road. A joint
planning application with All
Souls College, Oxford, which
owns an adjoining 11 acres of
land, to redevelop the site
for housing, has been lodged
with West Oxfordshire District
Council.

Early's
chairman Robert Chris said:
"No loss of jobs is
anticipated if the business is
successfully reorganised."

The
company which has taken over
Early's, Witney's sole
surviving blanket makers, has
still not found an alternative
site, needed to keep the
business going.

Time
is running out for the
Derbyshire-based firm, Quiltex.
However, the firm's boss says
he is keen to keep the
manufacture of a once
world-famous product in the
town.

Talks
are continuing with Aster
Holdings, the owners of the
current Burford Road mill,
which want to sell the site
for housing.

An
application for redevelopment
will be put before West
Oxfordshire District Council
planners on June 17.

Quiltex
chairman Alan Lewis said:
"We have no alternative
sites at this stage. The
problem is that to carry on
manufacturing you need a
purpose-built factory by a
river, as this one is by the
River Windrush.

"We
need time to relocate Early's.
We want some kind of lease to
take over this building, while
we continue to look for
somewhere else in the area.

"Though
there is very little
unemployment in Witney, there
are people who have been here
for 30 or 40 years. They have
a skill in a specialised
trade. They won't get this
type of work anywhere else
around here. Some provision
should be made for them.

"So
we are trying to say that it
is in the local interest to
develop the business rather
then the site. We are putting
forward a business plan for
expanding the business. It is
not a dead business."

Earlier
this year Quiltex, which
manufacturers quilts and
pillows, took over the trading
name Early's. The Burford Road
factory, now operating on a
reduced staff of 72, is still
making blankets.

Just
three weeks ago Robert Chris,
chairman of subsidiary
companies connected to Early's,
revealed that annual sales had
dropped from £3.8m to £2.7m.

The
Burford Road site had been
earmarked for housing. But
planners and developers are
yet to reach agreement over
the proportion of social
housing.

____________________________________________________________________

Published
on Wednesday 03 July 2002:

•
Workers mourn loss of
blanket factory

Three
workers who have worked for
blanket makers Early's for a
total of 127 years say they
are devastated by the closure
of the factory.

The
plant in Witney will shut on
July 19. Its 72 workers have
been given the chance to
relocate to Ilkeston in
Derbyshire, but negotiations
are still going on. Early's,
founded in 1669, is one of the
oldest companies in the
country.

Quiltex
took over Early's earlier this
year and will now move
manufacturing to a factory
near its headquarters in
Ilkeston after failing to find
an alternative site in Witney.

Planning
permission to turn the site
into housing, which is owned
by a subsidiary of Early's,
was granted last month by West
Oxfordshire District Council.

Tony
Clapton, 64, of Bladon, would
have retired in a year's time
having served 50 years with
Early's. He joined straight
from school when he was 15.

"My
father worked there for 25
years and my uncle for 50
years. I started at Woodford
Mill in a really old part of
the factory.

"There
were 400 workers and a good,
friendly atmosphere and a
canteen serving really good
meals.

"We
are all very sad to see it go
as so many of us have worked
here for so long. It is very
sad day too for Witney as a
whole. Blanket making has been
such a part of the town for
centuries."

John
Brooks, 63, of Westfield Road,
Witney, has been with the
company for 41 years. He said:
"Now I will be seeing it
all knocked down. It is most
distressing. I still can't
believe the factory is
shutting for good. We are all
feeling very low."

____________________________________________________________________

Sue
Downes can see Early's factory
from her home in Crawley Road,
Witney.

"In
November I would have worked
there 37 years. I, like
everyone else, was devastated
when we got the news. My
parents worked there in their
time." None of the three
have decided on their future
yet.

____________________________________________________________________

Published
on Saturday 20 July 2002:

•
Tears mark last day at
Early's by Andrew
French

The
last blanket has been sewn at
Early's in Witney, ending 333
years of tradition.

Many
of the remaining 72 staff at
the New Witney Mill factory in
Burford Road were in tears as
they came to work on Friday,
July 19, for the last time.

Sheila
Baker, manager of Early's
Shop, said: "It's so sad.
I can't tell you how I'll feel
by one o'clock.

"I'm
already really upset."

John
Brooks, 63, who works in the
wages office, said: "I
have worked here for 41 years,
man and boy, so this has been
a terrible day. It's a family
break-up."

But
while staff look for new jobs,
they also face the worry that
the company's pension fund
could be in difficulties.

Earlier
this week, workers received
letters advising them the £4m
invested in the pension fund
may not be enough to pay their
pensions in full.

Mr
Brooks said: "Staff have
been given letters which said
that the pension fund is worth
£4m, but that is still half a
million pounds short, and the
company does not know how long
the money will last. It's
extremely worrying.

"The
irony is that sales have been
terrific over the past six
months."

The
company, founded in 1669,
became the last remaining
blanket factory in Witney as
the rise in popularity of
duvets hit the blanket
industry.

In
May, it was revealed that
annual sales had dropped, and
large debts forced the company
into voluntary liquidation.

Last
month, West Oxfordshire
District Council granted
permission for the site to be
redeveloped for housing.

____________________________________________________________________

Published
on Monday 04 November 2002:

Blanket
exhibition

An
exhibition looking back on
Witney's long history in the
blanket trade starts on
November 4.

It
is being held in the wake of
the closure of Early's factory
in Burford Road, which
signalled the end of more than
300 years of blanket
manufacture in the town.

Photographs
and artefacts feature in the
display, at the Visitor
Information Centre in Market
Square from 10am to 4.30pm
until Saturday.

It
is going on show during
November 4 to 9 at from the
industry have been contributed
by local businesses, residents
and the Witney museum.

Tony
Walker, the district council's
cabinet member for culture,
said; "It is being held
to celebrate the blanket trade
as this is a significant part
of the town's history."